Whether you’re underweight, training for an acting role, or simply want to put on a few pounds, gaining fat can have its benefits. Fat is essential for cognitive functioning, temperature regulation, protecting internal organs, and more. While it’s often shrouded in a negative light, many of us would like to know how to get fat healthily.
To get fat, drink your calories through milk, protein shakes, and juice while eating 500 more calories daily than you usually would. Eating right before going to sleep, consuming mass gainers, and combining meals will also assist your weight gain. Never consume too much sugar to get fat, though.
In this post, we’ll cover how you can quickly gain weight without causing unhealthy side effects, why people often gain weight intentionally, and how you can manage the process. We’ll also talk about how you can know if you’ve gone too far and what to do about it.
Getting Fat On Purpose
You might be wondering why people would get fat on purpose. Whether they’re aiming for an obese figure or trying to gain fat over their muscle for health reasons, there’s a broad range of explanations. However, most of them can be boiled down to the following four reasons:
- Some people want to gain fat because they believe they’re underweight. Being underweight can be frustrating if you cannot fit the clothes you love, lifting the weights you’re striving for, and so on. If your reason for putting on weight is because you feel like you don’t weigh enough, we suggest reviewing the body mass index.
- Upcoming movie roles or modeling jobs can require weight fluctuations. Many casting crews will demand a specific appearance, which could mean you have to weigh more or less. Many famous actors have to gain 50 or more pounds for some roles, which could be part of your gig (even if you’re just starting out as an actor or model).
- Gaining and cutting are a part of many body-building programs. Many weight lifters want to gain weight rapidly, which includes fat. As they gain muscle and fat, they’ll reach a goal with excess calorie intake. Once they’re at their desired strength, they can favor cardio to cut excess fat.
- Fat is an important part of human life. If you don’t have enough fat, it can have detrimental effects on your nervous system, cognitive functioning, and more. People who live in cold climates need more fat to keep themselves warm. The stereotypical washboard abs appearance is actually quite unhealthy!
There are many other reasons people intentionally gain fat, including personal preferences, comfort during colder months, and higher energy levels (at a healthy maintained weight). If you want to know how to get fat quickly, read on.
How to Gain Fat Quickly
If you’re adamant about gaining fat, it’s time to employ a tried and true technique. Fat is gained through a surplus of calories. However, adjusting your eating schedule can also play a significant role in your results.
With that in mind, let’s dive into a simple yet effective step-by-step process to put on extra fat below.
- Drink your calories through protein shakes, smoothies, juices, and mass gainers. You can consume quite a heavy meal for breakfast by combining peanut butter, whole fat milk, protein powder, and chia seeds. Mixing fruit, greek yogurt, and your favorite juice can also amount to a high caloric total.
- Eat every two hours to keep your metabolism working. Weight management is based on your metabolism. Whether you’re gaining, losing, or maintaining your weight, eating every two hours can train your metabolism to digest properly without converting it into unhealthy, heart-threatening fat.
- Consume a big meal before an afternoon nap. Your body doesn’t burn as many calories when it’s resting as when it’s moving around. If you want to slow your metabolism and gain weight, eat a heavy fish and lay down for half an hour or so.
- Increase your daily calorie intake by 500. According to GI Care, consuming 500 to 1,000 more calories each day than your normal consumption will add one to two pounds per week. Gaining a pound typically requires 3,500 more weekly calories, so you can divvy it up however you want to.
While gaining weight quickly is tempting for many people, it can be unhealthy if you don’t know what to eat, how much to sleep, and so on. Remember, it’s not a race! Rushing yourself to gain as much weight as possible will end with poor results.
In the following section, we’ll break down three must-know pieces of advice to follow while gaining fat or muscle.
Unhealthy Weight Gaining Practices
While you might want to gain fat, too much too quickly can be very unhealthy. There are thousands of studies that point to the link between excess body fat and heart problems, kidney failure, restlessness, anxiety, and more.
It’s important to know when it’s time to slow down, but how should you know what to avoid?
Never Load Up On Sugar
Sugar often turns to fat and it can be incredibly tasking on your body. Not only will it make it harder for you to sleep, but it can put unwanted pressure on your body. You’ll get enough sugar from fruits, vegetables, yogurt, and other dairy products. There’s no need to add donuts, cakes, candy bars, and energy drinks to the mix.
Eating Fat Doesn’t Always Make You Fat
Far too many people think they have to avoid fat because it’s supposedly the only thing that puts weight on your body. However, your body needs healthy fats from avocados, fish, and similar foods to function properly. Furthermore, sugar is much more likely to make you gain excess weight because it’s found in higher quantities in most processed foods.
Prioritize Your Sleep Schedule
Sleep is crucial, so you don’t want to miss out on it. Unhealthy sleeping patterns lead to unhealthy weight gain, stress, and fatigue. You’ll be much more alert and energized if you get good sleep, even if you’re gaining fat. The Sleep Foundation claims you need between seven to nine hours of sleep each night.
Knowing your macros can also help you healthily gain weight. It’s crucial to study how much fat, protein, and carbs you should eat every day. Try this macro calculator from BodyBuilding to get an estimate. It’ll give you a good idea of how much of each nutrient you need to stay healthy while gaining, maintaining, or losing weight.
How Can You Get Fat While Exercising
To get fat while exercising, you’ll have to eat more calories than you burn. Your basal metabolic rate is determined by how many calories you burn while at rest. Once you know how many calories you burn without exercise, you can determine how much you need to eat to accommodate the deficit caused by walking, running, lifting, and other exercises.
Here’s what you can do:
- Reduce your cardio in favor of focused muscle exercises. Cardio is known to burn calories. While you can’t target fat on certain parts of your body, cutting excess calories will inevitably reduce your body’s fat storage. By reducing the amount of cardio you include in your daily exercise routine, you’ll prevent unwanted weight loss.
- Work out three times a week rather than five or six times. Working out daily can be tempting if you’re trying to put on weight. Whether you’re looking for fat or muscle, your body needs to rest in between heavy workouts. You’ll also burn fewer calories by working out less, which promotes weight gain.
- Consume calories before and after you exercise. As long as there’s a surplus of calories burning in your diet, you’ll be able to gain weight. Since exercise is the biggest calorie burner there is, eating before and after it will ensure you’re not cutting too many calories.
- Maintain a relatively sedentary lifestyle outside of exercising. If you prefer exercise, but you want to gain weight, you can’t be active around the clock. Those who have a busy, engaging career could reduce their daily exercise to continue gaining fat and limiting their total calories burned.
Exercising provides healthy muscle growth, lung capacity, and blood pressure. Regardless of your reason for getting fatter, lifting and a bit of cardio will keep your body in much better shape than it would be without exercise.
Tips to Manage Your Weight Gain
Gaining fat can be healthier than you’d think. Most people assume fat gaining is always unhealthy, but that’s far from the truth. If you follow the suggestions found in this section, you can gain weight and manage the process while limiting the potential side effects.
- Step on a scale once a week to track your progress. You shouldn’t gain too much weight too quickly. We’ll cover the signs to look for in the next subheading, but for now, you should keep a scale nearby and gain no more than two or three pounds per week. If you’re gaining muscle, too, you’ll likely gain a pound or two more.
- Consider keeping a journal of your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and more. You could visit a doctor before and after your weight gain, once per month, and so on. Tracking your vitals will ensure you’re not damaging your body throughout your bulking phase. This suggestion is desirable for people gaining fat or muscle.
- Take before and after pictures in the morning before eating or drinking anything. You’re at your lightest in the morning. There’s no food or water in your stomach, and your fat cells are likely dehydrated right when you wake up. Taking a picture right away will show your true body weight and physique before you start the day.
- Adjust your diet with new meals to get all of your necessary nutrients. It’s important to try different foods while gaining weight. You can rely on one consistent meal if you know it works, such as the previously mentioned mass gaining shake; But if you want to stay healthy and not get bored of your diet, switching things up can keep your weight gain bearable.
Are you worried about eating too much, not exercising enough, or gaining weight too quickly? Review our signs and symptoms to watch out for below.
How Do You Know if You Gained Weight Too Quickly?
Do you feel like you’re gaining fat much quicker than you thought? Truthfully, many people gain muscle and fat quite fast if they’ve maintained a lightweight physique for their whole lives. It wouldn’t be shocking if you gained up to five pounds per week when you start your fat-gaining journey.
However, keep an eye out for restlessness, discomfort, chest pains, and similar signs of health deterioration. Gaining weight can be a healthy process, but too much too fast will have undeniably negative effects on your body.
Fatigue is another common symptom of excess weight gain. Your body won’t be used to the increase of muscle and fat, so it’ll have to work harder to perform daily tasks. This process could make it harder to get out of bed in the morning or push through a long day at work.
If your weight gain is based on muscle growth with fat as an inevitable byproduct, you could keep an eye on your strength. If you’re gaining weight and not becoming stronger, you might be letting the fat get ahead of you. Those who can lift more over the course of a couple of months are on the right track.
Finally, you shouldn’t have to deal with troubled breathing. If you’re having a hard time climbing the stairs or walking a mile when you used to do it without a problem, you could incorporate some cardio into your routine to maintain lung and heart functionality.
Conclusion
Getting fat isn’t always unhealthy. As long as you’re gaining muscle throughout the process while meeting your nutritional needs and getting enough sleep, your body will handle the transition surprisingly well.
Remember to get most of your calories from protein and carbs for muscle growth and energy.
Recommendations:
If you’re serious about getting fat in a healthy way, i.e. without complication, I would recommend making at least one of the two meal replacement shakes a daily snack for you that can easily be beefed up in calories by adding additional healthy ingredients like oats, chia seeds, yogurt, avocados, peanut butter, almond butter, and so on…
1. Shakeology
The Beachbody Shakeology shake is power house nutrient drink that includes:
- Protein
- Superfruits & Antioxidants
- Prebiotics & Probiotics
- Digestive Enzymes
- Adaptogens
- Supergreens & Phytonutrients
- Vitamins & Minerals
First released to the public in 2009, many other nutrient drinks have tried to copy what Shakeology has to offer.
Ready My Shakeology Review Here
Shakeology comes in Whey and Vegan flavors. Comes in 9 different flavors. And promises to never use anything artificial… Only the most nutrient dense Superfoods from around the world.
Personally, Shakeology is my favorite shake because of the nutrients it has and because there is nothing else like it.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SHAKEOLOGY HERE
2. Ample Complete Meal Shake
The Ample Complete Meal Shake carries more calories than Shakeology and offers the following key ingredients:
- Coconut and Macadamia Nut Oil
- Egg-White & Grass-Fed Whey Protein
- Fiber & Prebiotics
- Fruits and Greens
- Key Electrolytes, Vitamins, & Minerals
- Probiotics
Read My Ample Meal Review Here
Ample Meal doesn’t offer as many flavors as Shakeology, however, it does offer a Whey, Vegan, and Keto friendly versions.
Ample Meal also offers high quality ingredients. This is a great option if you want something that costs a little less than Shakeology and offers a nice healthy meal.
LEARN MORE ABOUT AMPLE MEAL HERE
